Shadows of the Past
by The Wandering Writer
Summary: As war breaks out again, and Rinoa is possessed by Ultimecia's lingering soul, thirsting for time compression, will Squall be able to save the world once again? Note: This fanfic has been... Discontinued?
1. Prologue

--Shadows of the Past - Prologue--

> DISCLAIMER - I don't own SquareSoft or Final Fantasy VIII. Period.
> 
> * * *

Commander Squall Leonhart sat comfortably in his chair in the  
cafeteria, wondering how long this dreamlike peace was going to last,  
and how many hot dogs Zell could possibly stuff into his mouth at once.  
Zell turned around in his chair, his jaws opened wider than Squall  
could comprehend.  
  
"Qua! Ty wa o ese ot ogs!" was all that Squall could hear coming out  
of Zell's mouth.  
  
("What is he trying to say?")  
  
Rinoa walked steadily over and took a seat near Squall.  
  
"Squall, I think he's trying to say, 'Squall! Try one of these hot  
dogs!'"  
  
Squall replied, "Since when could you translate Zell with a full  
mouth?"  
  
"I've had plenty of practice, believe me."  
  
Squall turned his head around as he heard an announcement.  
"Commander Leonhart, Zell Dincht, Instructor Trepe, report to my  
office, please!" said Cid.  
  
"What?! Right when I'm enjoying lunch!"  
  
Zell got out of his chair, carrying a half of a hot dog, the other  
half in his mouth.  
  
("Damn, what is it this time?")  
  
Squall got up out of his chair and walked quickly to the elevator.  
  
("Cid's always needing my help for even the smallest things, like   
managing finances and recruiting new students... I never even asked to  
be the Commander, anyway! Why doesn't he just get someone else to do  
his work for him?!")  
  
Squall, his mind raging, stormed into Headmaster Cid's office with  
Zell and Quistis.  
  
"Sqaull, it's an emergency."  
  
("Like what? Junior classmen acting up?")  
  
"What kind of emergency?" Squall replied.  
  
"Galbadia's launched an attack on Esthar. No one knows the possible  
motives, but they're coming in full force!"  
  
"Sounds pretty serious to me." said Zell.  
  
("So..? Esthar can take care of itself. Besides, I think Laguna  
needs to wake up some.")  
  
Squall impatiently said, "Can't Esthar take care of this situation  
itself?"  
  
"Laguna's been captured, and the Esthar soldiers can't make a move.   
sneak into Esthar, rescue Laguna, and bring him to Balamb Garden.  
After that, we'll make efforts to defeat Galbadia without many  
casualties."  
  
"Yes, sir." Quistis replied.  
  
"You are to set off on your old ship, the Ragnarok, before dawn  
tomorrow."  
  
"Ragnarok? I thought it was donated to Esthar..." Zell inquired.  
  
"We still have it. Saying that we donated it to Esthar was just a  
cover-up in case any of the students wanted to test-drive it, you  
might say. I'm having you ride away before dawn so that no students  
will see it."  
  
"We'll do our best, Headmaster." Zell said. Getting into Esthar was  
one thing, but getting out with Laguna? This was going to be hard, if  
they actualy succeeded in this mission. With countless people on watch,  
how could Laguna be taken without any signs of it?  
  
Zell returned to the cafeteria to finish his lunch.  
  
"Damn, there goes my peaceful time as a SeeD, right down the  
drain... First we're fighting some psychotic sorceress, next we're  
taking Laguna, President of Esthar, away unseen with hundreds  
watching... Well, at least I don't have to listen to the Trepies  
babbling about Quistis..." Zell said, glancing over at the Trepies  
at the table next to him.  
  
"They're just about my only supporters, you know, Zell." Quistis  
said, walking behind Zell.  
  
"Woah! You just appeared out of nowhere!" Zell said, backing up and  
almost knocking his chair over.  
  
"I'll kind of miss them when they're gone. I almost hope another  
trio of goofs like that comes along after the Trepies graduate..."  
Quistis said while laughing.  
  
Zell replied, "Yeah, I think I know how you feel."  
  
Meanwhile, Squall laid down on the bed in his room, lost in his   
thoughts.  
  
("First Galbadia hires a sorceress as ambassador and gets taken over  
by her, and now they're going to war with Esthar. What are they  
thinking?  
I thought that when President Deling died, things would get better, but  
it all stayed the same when Caraway took over. He obviously felt the  
same way as Deling about making decisions, the stupid way. Galbadia's always  
responsible for all of the war around here!")  
  
Squall slammed his fist down on his bed. "Dammit!" he accidentally  
said aloud.  
  
There was a light knock on Squall's door, disturbing his angry  
thoughts.  
  
"This had better be important!" said Squall, sighing as he wearily  
got off of his bed and opened the door.  
  
Rinoa was waiting at the door. She walked silently to Squall's bed  
and sat down on it.  
  
"You're leaving tomorrow, right?" she asked.  
  
"...Yeah."  
  
"I just wanted to say... Well..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Just come back safe, alright?"  
  
"...Okay..."  
  
("What does she mean, 'Come back safe'? It's just another  
mission...")  
  
"What did you need?" Squall asked after a lengthy pause.  
  
"That's all." Rinoa replied, getting off of the bed.  
  
"Bye." Rinoa said, sounding a bit irritated as she walked out of  
Squall's dormitory, wondering how he could be so insensitive.  
  
Squall lapsed again into his thoughts, laying on his bed.  
  
("What was so important that she needed to tell me? I've gone on  
lots of missions, and she didn't tell me to come back safe from any  
of them...")  
  
Meanwhile, at Deling City, President Caraway recieved a call from  
Rinoa.  
  
"... Rinoa?"  
  
"Yes, yes."  
  
"We're holding him at the Sorceress Memorial, where no one would  
look."  
  
"...Okay." he said as he hung up the telephone.  
  
Caraway felt a bit odd about telling Rinoa where Laguna was being  
held. For all he knew, she would tell SeeDs on some sort of mission  
to save Laguna, and their attack would have been all for nothing.  
  
Caraway called out, "Send a message to general Biggs to strengthen  
defenses at the S-" He stopped for a moment, wondering if others were  
listening. "At his post!"  
  
He was determined that this battle would be a success.

* * *

Hey, review please! And... Just in case you're wondering, ("...") means that the character is thinking.


	2. Reunion

--Reunion--

* * *

Squall awakened at 4:30, and wearily got up. He got dressed in his SeeD uniform, yawned and stretched, and walked out of his room.  
  
("I need coffee...")  
  
Rinoa, hiding behind a pillar, held back laughter as she witnessed him walking. He was stiff, his hair was all over the place, and he just looked like a zombie. Rinoa began to imagine Ultimecia there in Squall's place, saying, "I must have koffee..."  
  
She had entrusted herself with the task of sneaking onto the Ragnarok. If she couldn't even do this, what help would she be to Squall?  
  
Rinoa hid behind a large bush as Squall walked noisily into the elevator. It went down to the basement. As it came back up, Rinoa hastily walked into it.  
  
At the basement, Squall saw once again the ship Ragnarok. Memories flooded into his head, memories of the journey they made one year ago. All of the joyous and tragic moments, everything rushed into his head. He almost wished he could go on that journey again...  
  
Squall entered the Ragnarok, not suspecting that Zell would be there, wide awake and hyperactive as ever.  
  
"Yo Squall! We're about to go on another mission, just like old times, eh?"  
  
To this Squall replied, "Look, I'm not in a good mood and it's early. If you're gonna do anything, get me coffee."  
  
Rinoa was backed up behind one of NORG's pods as Quistis lowered the landing gear. Rinoa closely followed her, observing her tangled mess of hair.  
  
Rinoa got into the ship just in time for the landing gear to go up. She went to nestle into a corner and bumped into... Selphie?  
  
"Hey, Rinoa," Selphie whispered, "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I just wanted to go on another mission with everyone," Rinoa lied.  
  
"Yeah, me too!"  
  
Selphie felt the ship beginning to move. It went through a runway that had been secretly set up going through Balamb's mountains. A junior classman jogging out of curfew outside of Garden noticed the Ragnarok, though...  
  
"Okay," Selphie whispered again, "We're gonna jump out and yell 'Surprise!' in 3... 2... 1..."  
  
Squall turned around as Rinoa and Selphie appeared out of nowhere yelling "Surprise!!!"  
  
"What are you doing here..? It's way too early to be making noise..."  
  
"Tee-hee, Squall, we just thought that you might need some company!"  
  
Selphie heard a common reply from Squall. "Whatever."  
  
The trip to Esthar was fairly uneventful, and the group even stopped at the Fisherman's Horizon to get coffee for Squall. As they touched down on the wilderness of Esthar far away from the Sorceress Memorial, everyone got out and stretched their legs, but Selphie stumbled upon something. She ran screaming to the group, "It's a Malboro!"  
  
It was just barely in sight, but everyone could smell its putrid breath.  
  
Squall was the first to make a move. "Run! We'll waste our energy fighting it!"  
  
The slow Malboro gave up soon, and the group reached Tears' Point.  
  
The fun wasn't over yet, it seemed. A bullet whizzed inches above Squall's head!  
  
"Dammit! Drop down!"  
  
A familiar voice called out to them. "Hey, it's not a monster. It's just Irvine."  
  
Selphie screeched with joy. "It's my Irvy-poo!"  
  
Squall was slightly relieved, yet still angry. "You could've killed me!"  
  
"I thought you'd trust my aim by now. I'm hurt..." Irvine said with a fake sob. "Anyway... Howdy Sephie!"  
  
Selphie gleefully ran to Irvine. "Irvine! I missed you, you know... Why'd you go back to Galbadia Garden?"  
  
Irvine replied, "Wish I knew. It's pretty terrible there without you."  
  
Squall sighed.  
  
("This is making me sick.")  
  
That night, Irvine came up with a plan.  
  
"Hey, I'll just go to Biggs's tent and say there are intruders sighted, but I'll direct them the wrong way. Got it?"  
  
Selphie greeted it joyfully. "I knew you'd come up with a great plan!"  
  
It was night, and Squall was laying next to a burnt down campfire, red embers glowing.  
  
("Why did Rinoa and Selphie come with us? Is it like Zell said as I entered the ship, 'Just like old times'? Was it to go on a mission together like we had before?")  
  
Irvine interrupted Squall's thoughts. "Hey," he said. "The Sorceress Memorial's about 2 miles away from here. I'll get going now, and you can follow in about a half an hour."  
  
Squall nodded sleepily, and Irvine went off on his own.  
  
Squall set his watch's alarm to go off in 30 minutes, and laid back down.  
  
Meanwhile, Irvine, in his usual cowboy wear, his hat tipped jauntily, was venturing swiftly across the Esthar wilderness.  
  
He froze when he heard a stern yell. "Are you friend or foe?"  
  
A Galbadian soldier raised his gun. "Speak or die!"  
  
"Woah, woah, I'm a Galbadian SeeD on patrol," Irvine replied.  
  
"Then what are you doing so close to the Sorceress Memorial?"  
  
To that Irvine replied, "I've spotted intruders!"  
  
"We'll take care of that. You return to your post!"  
  
Irvine ran off, whispering to himself, "Oh, _shit_," as the soldiers went off in the direction he came from.  
  
Irvine ran as fast as he could back to Squall's group around a campfire.  
  
"Galbadian soldiers are coming this way!"

* * *

Tell me how you feel about the story. If you have any suggestions, just include them in a review! 


	3. Reminiscence

--Reminiscence--

* * *

Zell was shocked as he witnessed Galbadians coming... 10... 20...  
  
"W-What the hell is this?!"  
  
Everyone was frightened, but Squall kept them going. "We'll fight them, and we'll win!"  
  
The group stood their ground, weapons at the ready. Irvine smiled humorlessly and put his eye to the scope on his rifle, finger on the trigger.  
  
He squeezed the trigger. One soldier dropped down.  
  
By now, Squall's group was within firing range of the Galbadians. Squall yelled and ran speedily toward the soldiers, along with Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Rinoa. Irvine stayed behind, laying on the ground and randomly sniping enemies.  
  
Squall fought furiously, bullets whizzing left and right, soldiers rapidly falling to his blade, shining in the sunlight that shone over the barren wilderness of Esthar. Zell was fighting equally fiercely, his fists flailing wildly yet accurately. Selphie and Quistis were back to back, chain and whip flinging every which way. Meanwhile, Rinoa was having a difficult time with her Pinwheel weapon in close quarters.  
  
Squall saw an enemy soldier take careful aim at Rinoa. His finger began to squeeze on the trigger when Squall dashed toward him. He was a fraction of a second too late. The bullet from the dead soldier's gun hit a bit below her shoulder in the same fashion that Edea's ice crystal pierced Squall.  
  
Everything began moving in slow motion. The only thing that Squall could see was Rinoa clutching her shoulder in pain, the only thing he could hear was her yell of pain. In Squall's mind, he had failed her.  
  
("Rinoa's been shot, she's in pain. I could've prevented it, but I wasn't fast enough. I should've learned my lesson the first time I lost someone... Don't grow to close to somebody, you'll only lose them...")  
  
Squall looked around. There were dead Galbadian soldiers all around. They had won the battle, but at a price. Rinoa was wounded.  
  
Squall felt tears running down the sides of his face. Tears? He hadn't cried in years, and he had forgotten what it felt like to weep.  
  
He turned around, looking at the group. He took command. "Quistis, do everything you can to keep Rinoa alive! Selphie, contact the Headmaster and tell him that we need help for Rinoa! Zell, Irvine..."  
  
He thought for a while, then said, "...Just do something."  
  
Quistis and Selphie nodded and went to do their duties. Quistis was casting Cure spells, as Selphie called Cid.  
  
At Garden, Cid's telephone rang.   
  
("Damn telemarketers, always trying to sell cheap junk...")  
  
He answered it, and found that it was Selphie.  
  
"Hi, this is Cid Kramer."  
  
"Oh! Why, hello, Selphie! I heard you snuck off with Squall..."  
  
"...What? That's terrible..."  
  
"You'll just have to come back as fast as you can. You see, without Ragnarok, there's no way for us to get to Esthar."  
  
"...I'll see you at Garden, then," said Cid, hanging up the phone.  
  
The telephone rang again.  
  
"Hi, this is Cid Kramer speaking."  
  
"Good afternoon, Xu. Have you discovered anything yet?"  
  
"... Galbadia attacked Esthar because they seal away sorceresses?"  
  
"... Yes, they have taken a certain liking to sorceresses, such as Edea."  
  
"I'll keep an eye on her, then."  
  
"Well, keep up the good work."  
  
Cid hung up the phone, wondering how long this war could last.  
  
At the cafeteria in Garden, classmen were discussing the Ragnarok.  
  
"Hey, are you sure you really saw it?"  
  
"Yeah! It was flying toward Esthar, I know it!"  
  
"You're just plain damn crazy. You didn't see Ragnarok. It was donated to Esthar!"  
  
"Hey, maybe Cid could've been lying!"  
  
Seifer, at another table, slammed his fist down.  
  
"I'd bet money that Cid's hiding something. He's been suspicious lately, and doing suspicious things. He's married to a sorceress!"  
  
Zell and Irvine in Esthar had decided to put their time to good use. They were going to rescue Laguna themselves.  
  
They had reached the Sorceress Memorial and stood firmly against a wall. They heard footsteps approaching nearby.  
  
Zell whispered, "What're we gonna do?!"  
  
Irvine winked and shot his gun in the general direction of the soldier and ran in the opposite direction, dragging Zell.  
  
Irvine saw the entrance guarded by two troops. "It's payback time," Zell said.  
  
Zell snuck behind the first soldier on patrol and knocked him hard on his temples. He went down soundlessly. The other soldier rushed to the dead one as Zell hid from view, then applied the same treatment to him.  
  
"Come on," Zell whispered to Irvine.  
  
Irvine and Zell ran into the Sorceress Memorial, where they found Laguna in a drug-induced sleep. They grabbed him and ran off, only to be pursued by Galbadian soldiers.  
  
At the Ragnarok, Squall was waiting impatiently for Zell and Irvine.  
  
"One more minute..."  
  
Just then, Selphie noticed Irvine carrying Laguna. "Oh, look! It's my Irvy-poo!"  
  
Quistis sighed. "When are you going to get over him..?"  
  
Zell and Irvine ran into the ship just in time for it to take off.  
  
"Yo! We got Laguna, but he's sleeping right now," Zell said.  
  
"Good job. I suppose that's a mission accomplished," Squall said.  
  
Rinoa was just barely conscious, but laid reflecting upon herself.  
  
("I wish I weren't always in the way. First I inherit a sorceress's powers and get possessed, now I'm wounded and causing everyone worry. I just wish I could be better... So that I won't be in Squall's way...")  
  
Suddenly, as Squall sat lounging in a chair on the Ragnarok, a message was sent by Cid.  
  
"Galbadian homing missiles have targeted your ship."

* * *

I hope you're enjoying this! The next chapter might be a while... I feel the emptiness that I feel when writer's block strikes... Just be patient, I'm doing my best!


	4. Premonition

--Premonition--

* * *

Quistis, currently the Ragnarok's pilot, looked at a radar that showed two missiles bearing down upon the ship.  
  
Squall yelled, "Go as fast as you can! Try to outrun the missiles!"  
  
"We're already going at full speed," Quistis said, glancing over her shoulder at Squall.  
  
Uexpectedly, at that time, one missile hit, completely destroying an engine.  
  
Selphie moaned, "Oh no... Are we gonna crash?"  
  
Squall demanded, "Where's the nearest land?"  
  
"Trabia," Quistis replied. She understood what Squall meant. If they crashed, it would be safeast to crash on land. She turned the ship hard to the right. The ship was losing altitude fast. What if they didn't make it?  
  
The second missile hit, destroying the landing equipment.  
  
"Get ready for a rough landing," Zell yelled.  
  
The ship just barely made it to a Trabia beach, but the Ragnarok would be rendered scrap.  
  
The group crawled out of the wreckage, Selphie carrying Laguna and Squall carrying Rinoa.  
  
A fire was made on the beach, and everyone crowded around it on a freezing March night.  
  
Squall asked Quistis, "How's Rinoa?"  
  
"She's getting worse," Quistis replied. "Her pulse is slowing, and she's slipping in out out of consciousness."  
  
Just then, Laguna's eyes gradually opened.  
  
"Get off me, lousy Galbadi- Woah!" he said as he sprung up and looked at his surroundings. "Where am I?"  
  
"We rescued you from those 'lousy Galbadians'," Squall said, "and I think you owe us some thanks."  
  
"Yeah, thanks and all, but... Where are we?"  
  
"Trabia. The Ragnarok was hit by Galbadian missiles," Quistis said.  
  
"Hmm..." He looked around some more. "Rinoa! What happened to her?"  
  
Squall's eyes narrowed a bit as he said, "While we were attempting to rescue you, Rinoa was shot."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that..."  
  
"Sorry? Is that all you can say? Sorry? It's because of you that Rinoa was shot! And all you can say is sorry?"  
  
Laguna looked around nervously. "Well... I can't help her. What more do you expect me to do?"  
  
Suddenly, Irvine, who had gone off to find some sort of food, came running into the camp, closely pursued by a blue dragon!  
  
It was an intimidating creature, with a blue-scaled reptilian head that had fierce red eyes gleaming, a tough skin that would repel almost any weapon, and a long, spiked tail lashing every which way.  
  
Squall yelled, "Get back! I'll take care of this!"  
  
"I won't let you fight this alone," Laguna said, standing by Squall's side, machine gun at the ready. "I've got a debt to repay."  
  
Laguna distracted it with harmless fire, the bullets bouncing off of its tough skin. It lashed at Laguna with it's powerful razor - sharp claws, but he dodged them.  
  
Squall grabbed his Lionheart sword, ran up to the unsuspecting dragon, and dealt it a powerful blow, almost severing a leg.  
  
Selphie, from a few meters away, yelled, "Good going, Squall!"  
  
The blue dragon was hurt, and lost most of its mobility. Squall ran around it, avoiding its venomous claws, and thrust his blade through its heart. The dragon let out a piteous roar and fell to the ground.  
  
"Phew... glad that's over," Laguna said. "At least I got to stretch my limbs."  
  
Meanwhile, at Balamb Garden, Seifer, along with his 'posse' made up of Fujin and Raijin, did their best to spread distrust toward Cid.  
  
"Cid can't be trusted, he's married to a sorceress, after all. He said that SeeD's true mission is to figt the sorceress, but now that Ultimecia's gone, why does he keep training SeeDs? He's hiding something!"  
  
This convinced some students to start being a bit skeptical about Cid. Why did he keep training SeeDs after Ultimecia was defeated?  
  
In Cid's office, the headmaster was struggling to remember how to control Balamb Garden. Quistis had called him and told him that they were in Trabia, but Cid couldn't move the Garden. Finally, he slammed his fist down on the control panel. The Garden strangely started moving! He piloted it, all of the controls slowly coming back to him, until he found the scarlet wreckage of the Ragnarok. He cursed inwardly, because he knew that every student could see it.  
  
By now, it was the next morning, and Squall awakened to see Balamb Garden. He woke everyone up to get onto the flying Garden.  
  
Some of Balamb's medics had already picked up Rinoa and Laguna, just in case the sleeping drugs might've had some other effect.  
  
That night, the first night in two days that he slept in a normal bed, Squall had a cryptic dream about Rinoa and the battle between Esthar and Galbadia. He saw Rinoa in the same place in Deling city that Edea had been when she became the ambassador of Galbadia, then it faded, revealing a city in ruins, then once again faded into Ultimecia reborn, with time compression reborn and Rinoa dead...  
  
The next morning would scar Squall forever...

* * *

This is gonna get pretty suspenseful...


	5. Desperation

--Desperation--  
  
Squall awakened the next morning, feeling uneasy. He got dressed in his usual attire - a plain white T-shirt underneath a black leather jacket with a fur collar, black gloves, 3 belts, two of them forming an X, and black jeans.  
  
He looked at his clock sitting on the nightstand next to his room. It was 8:30. He yawned and looked around in his dormitory. His gunblade, sitting on a desk against the wall, was well-polished, and there was also a set of bullets sitting next to it. His SeeD uniform was hanging on the opposite wall, immaculately clean because it was rarely used. His room was plain, with a tile floor and white walls. Squall slipped a keycard into a slot to open his door and walked out.  
  
He was expecting noise at this time of morning, but there was complete silence. Only silence. As he stepped into the main hall, he looked to the right and his eyes widened as he witnessed Rinoa staggering out of the infirmary, her wound still bandaged. However, there was an unearthly aura about her.  
  
"Rinoa!" Squall said, "What are you doing out of the infirmary?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Rinoa?"  
  
Still silence. Something was wrong.  
  
"Rinoa?!"  
  
Squall heard Rinoa's voice, but it wasn't her.  
  
"Rinoa isn't there. She won't hear you, no matter how loudly you speak."  
  
("What's going on? Rinoa's never been like this... Unless... No, it couldn't be that...")  
  
Rinoa... Or whoever it was began to walk away.  
  
"Wait!"  
  
Rinoa didn't hear him. Rinoa was gone. She continued to walk away, ignoring Squall.  
  
("I don't understand this...")  
  
Squall walked slowly around the path to the elevator. He walked in, and as the doors closed, he pressed the '3F' button. The cylinder-shaped elevator moved quickly upward, coming to a stop at Cid's office.  
  
Cid's office was the exact opposite of Squall's dormitory. It was finely furnished, with potted plants sitting atop desks by the polished wooden walls, a beautiful rug sitting on the floor, and a full wardrobe of good suits that Cid never used.  
  
Squall knocked on the door to Garden's control room.  
  
"Headmaster, this is Squall. It's an emergency."  
  
Cid walked to the door, wondering what this emergency is, and why Squall needed to report it to him, and slid a cardkey through a slot, thus opening the door.  
  
"Don't just stand there, come in," Cid said invitingly.  
  
Squall just stood where he was, and Cid shook his head amusingly. Squall was never a very social person.  
  
"It's Rinoa. She walked out of the infirmary earlier. I saw her and called out to her. After a few attempts at getting her attention, she said something very odd, sir."  
  
Cid was curious about this. "Just what did she say?"  
  
"She said, 'Rinoa isn't there. She won't hear you, no matter how loudly you speak.' She just walked out of Garden after that, ignoring me."  
  
Cid started to think hard about this. He could only think of one possible thing, but... No, it isn't possible...  
  
"Squall, I think you should look into this. Something's wrong with Rinoa, and it needs to be taken care of, fast. I'm afraid that the outcome of this may be terrible..."  
  
In the meantime, Rinoa was well away from Balamb Garden. She walked along the road with no lack of energy. Suddenly, Rinoa's voice could be heard inside of her head.  
  
("What is this..? I can't feel anything, everything's so cold... What's going on?!")  
  
("Your body is no longer yours. You're nothing but a puppet now.")  
  
("What's happening to me?!")  
  
("Hehe... Ironic, isn't it? Trapped within your own mind... I believe that you've experienced this before, correct?")  
  
("But... Y-You're dead! We all killed you, and S-Squall saw you passing on your powers...")  
  
("Even death can't stop me. My body is gone, yet my soul still lives, and I can still make use of others' bodies, as you know.")  
  
By now, she was at Balamb. Rinoa's possessor, seeing through her eyes, observed the peaceful streets of Balamb.  
  
("What a pity,") she thought, ("They'll all be gone soon...")  
  
("No! What do you want with me?!") Rinoa thought.  
  
("You're the only sorceress alive now. Edea passed her powers to you, and Adel's dead, so that makes you the last sorceress...")  
  
("What are you going to use me for???")  
  
"Um, excuse me, miss," the train conductor said, "Are you going to buy a ticket or not?"  
  
"Oh, sorry," Rinoa said. "I'll buy a ticket to Deling city."  
  
"You'll have to go to Timber first, then take a train from there to reach Deling City."  
  
The conductor paused, then said, "I've seen your face before... Who are you?"  
  
"U-Um..." She racked her mind to think of a name. "Ellone Lo-" She paused again, wondering if it was safe to use Loire. "Ellone Leonhart, sir."  
  
"Okay, I guess I was mistaken. Anyway, get on the train."  
  
Rinoa - or whoever it was stepped silently onto the train. She sat down on a cold steel bench and felt the rumbling as the train took off. She observed the underwater tunnel passing by quickly, with glass sides reinforced by Protect and Shell para-magic. She marvelled at how inept normal people were at casting magic. As the train resurfaced and travelled to Timber, Rinoa once again spoke up.  
  
("What are you going to use me for???")  
  
("You don't need to know... You'll be dead by the time my goal's achieved.")  
  
Rinoa, trapped in her own body and mind, could do nothing but hope for the best...  
  
As the train came to a stop at Timber, the old town now free of Galbadian occupation, Rinoa walked out and saw Zone, in his yellow vest and brown pants.  
  
"R-Rinoa?"  
  
Rinoa no longer cared about keeping her identity a secret.  
  
"Rinoa's gone..."  
  
Zone backed up. "Rinoa, what're you talking about?"  
  
Rinoa's eyes gleamed. "I already told you, she's gone... Not to worry, you're next!"  
  
Zone, normally carefree, seemed serious suddenly. "This isn't funny, Rinoa!"  
  
"Who says I'm joking? You're only refusing to see the the truth... You see, history often repeats itself..."  
  
Meanwhile, from his bed in Balamb Garden's infirmary, Laguna was contacting the commander of his army.  
  
"So Esthar's been captured, right?" Laguna said, looking concerned.  
  
"Yeah, I think we should try to recapture it and use it as a base. We have lots of places that we could fire from."  
  
"... Send them before Galbadia gets their defenses ready for an attack," Laguna said, hanging up the telephone with a satisfied look on his face. This was going to be a complete success. Esthar was the greatest country in the world, with amazing technology and a well-supplied army. Their army was the only in the world with airplanes, putting Galbadia at a disadvantage. Galbadia had to scale mountains to get into Esthar, while Esthar soldiers could fly in anytime. Dr. Odine was Esthar's greatest asset, poviding the army with amazing weapons.  
  
Laguna called Dr. Odine just then.  
  
"Dr. Odine, you remember the Sorceress Rinoa, right?"  
  
"... Yes. She acted very odd this morning. Despite my complaints, she just walked out of the room. There was a mysterious aura around her."  
  
"... No, that couldn't be possible..." he said, "But just as a precaution..."  
  
"Yeah," he said as he hung up the telephone. This was going to be risky, and if he succeeded, he knew that Squall would never forgive him. 


End file.
